Monthly Archives: July 2013

If Gunpowder Gertie could have set off the ship’s cannons to close the show, she would have! And if the whole cast could have come back on stage and repeated Saturday night’s performance, they were ready and willing to do so! It was just too much fun to stop.

Dread Pirate Roberta

However, we had to stow our gear, return our magnificent costumes, raise anchor, and set our sails for new adventures — a swinging, jazzy detective mystery for this Christmas season! Get ready for Sam Shade and all his crew! Stay tuned for details!

Somehow, all 41 (!) actors in this cast of A Pirates’ Tale — from ages 7 to 17 — got their heads and arms around their lines, the songs, the choreography, the staging, and each other, and pulled with all their might and landed a wonderful performance on stage all 3 nights.

Thursday started off great, but Friday and Saturday nights got even better and bolder as they truly started acting and reacting, working together, helping each other, recovering a dropped line, keeping the action moving, and having an obvious good time with their characters and the audience.

Confidence blossomed, and charisma followed!

I had to make myself take my eyes off the script and the music and just sit back and enjoy the show (when we weren’t playing for a song). It now genuinely belonged to the kids. “We got this!” their performances demonstrated, with flair.

As the writer, I always hate to see a good line dropped, but as the director, I thrill to see my actors take that “negative” opportunity to actually stay in character, think on their feet, help each other, and keep the script on track!

It’s also a treat to see an actor express their character or a line in an effective way that I never could have directed — I never would have thought of doing it that way, but they did! Now, they’re really acting!

Samantha Axe, Smee, and Fee take on Bob, the resident octopus

A Pirates’ Tale was not originally written for 41 cast members — I’m not that crazy! But our unexpected blessing of such a large turnout at auditions became an opportunity to add what have become some grand new characters, two new fun songs, and a boat-bursting load of energy on stage.

It was quite a staging challenge, especially since the majority of the cast is on stage most of the show. It made for some tiring rehearsals, especially for the youngest, but this cast was outstanding in their patience and willingness to cooperate. Thanks, guys!

Speaking of thanks, the Global Spheres Center went graciously above and beyond to support our project. All of their help is greatly appreciated by cast, crew, parents, audiences, and FFP!

We also want to thank all of those who advertised in our program — the Music Academy & Performing Arts of Denton, Point Bank, Ray of Sunshine Sitting Service Registry of Denton, Turning Pointe Dance Studio, Dave’s Foreign Car Service (Dave’s a theater veteran!), Sky Guitars, Krum Friends of the Library, Maidpro, Amitea, Eagle Express Courier, Rose Costume, Excalibur Muffler & Automotive, and Old House BBQ.

We are especially grateful and pleased that many of our cast members are already lining up for the next production, and that a number of new people in our audiences or through our website have asked how to get into one of our productions.

Well, that’s easy! Just check our website, sign-up for our special email notifications, and keep up with our blog!